All it takes is a good wristband system to prevent someone stealing your signs. As far as stealing other teams' signs, I don't have a problem doing it at the youth level as long as it's the youth doing it, and not the "adults" and especially not the parents.
That stealing sign app is pretty cool ... though I don't think it should be used in a kids' game. The wristband system if properly designed has multiple combinations per sign and no pattern, so it would take longer (several innings?) for something like that to work. And a good system also has...
I also do custom wristband signs for teams and charge just $3.50 for the bands. Most teams can get the bands and 3 sets of signs from me less expensively than just buying the bands and doing the signs themselves. It's just a hobby I enjoy now that I am retired from coaching. Email me at...
Any system that uses a pattern (e.g., if the first or last number is X, then Y is on) or a decoy (e.g., the xth number is a decoy) can be picked up by another team. Any wristband system using 1 or 2 numbers is also susceptible. The idea of a wristband system is to use totally random...
There's no reason to have to call out signs in a good system, other than perhaps defensive plays. Even if you do call them out, there should be enough random alternatives that another team shouldn't be able to pick them up.
If anyone is interested in having someone do either a hitting and...
I use Martin for the systems I do for teams. I get a nice discount and don't have to pay shipping on them since I buy in bulk quantities, and sell them at $3.75 each if you have me do a system. Contact me at jffbaker3@gmail.com for more info. As for getting what you pay for, I've never had...
It would definitely be interesting! And they also need to speed up the game big time ... all of these visits to the mound by the catchers, especially by Contreras of the Cubs, are ridiculous.
No adult coach should ever tell a youth player to throw at or intentionally hurt another youth player ... period. It's wrong in every sense of the word, and any adult coach who does so should be banned from coaching. Why would a 10 year old offer that up voluntarily if it wasn't true? With...
Coach JV ... our daughters have a lot in common, except mine must be about 7 years older! Mine also was a D3 player who pitched, played OF and DH'd. She played all 4 years and actually left the school as their career wins leader. She was successful because she played at a skill and...
Don't give away what might be a great pitch to slap just to potentially hide you're a slapper for one more pitch that might not be a great one. Chances are they know or highly suspect it anyhow from having seen or faced you before, the fact that you're batting left-handed and quite possibly...
I'm not positive of the answer on this, but I do some pitch-calling wristband systems for teams, and I always talk about this with the coaches I am doing the systems for so as to not slow down the game or interfere with the pitcher's rhythm. My assumption is that most teams using wristband...
I think this sums up the key issue very well ... it's different thrusting forward over an imaginary finish line that extends upward than it is diving down into a base. As mentioned above, it only makes sense to avoid a high tag up the line ... not to mention the risk of injury jumping onto a...
Agree with JAD ... drop dead away, finish the inning home ... but there was one good point made I hadn't thought about before re: using pitchers less innings in a potentially long tournament if you might lose a game ... e.g., a pool game, or before the first loss in a double elimination.
Bartow ... sounds to me like your beef isn't with wristbands, but with coaches calling pitches ... wristbands are just one way to communicate them ... I agree that an invaluable skill for a catcher is the ability to call a game. My DD pitched 4 years in college ... some of her catchers were...
The reason to use them at any age is to reduce the risk of missed signs and eliminate the chance of stolen signs.
That is crazy though that an 18U team was relaying pitch-calling (or defensive plays?) like that. That's not really a wristband issue in my mind though ... that's just a stupid...